17th Dec 1988 - Embalse del Ebro

The countryside around the Embalse del Ebro is rolling rather than mountainous but, being mostly above 600 metres, it looks harsh and hungry. In those fields which are cultivated the soil looks peaty and probably quite deep in places, yet most of the area is covered with heather and bracken with some scrub and the occasional small plant­ation. There are rocky out-crops and small ravines and plenty of power lines.We stop a few kilometres east of the Emb­alse and wait for birds to appear. They are slow in coming ‑ a griffon, a couple of ravens, crows, etc.

A small bird appears in a bush some 150 metres away and looks like a large pale bullfinch; it appears to have a pinkish breast, dark cap, grey back, white rump and dark tail. It comes closer and morphs into a great grey shrike as the markings and shape become clearer ‑ the white "rump" is actually white tips to the tertials. This is the southern race ‑ generally darker than the one we saw in Belgium with a pinkish breast and belly.The shrike moves closer in stages, stopping on a fence post or twig, looking around intently for a few minutes then perhaps swooping down on something on its way to the next post. It ignores passing cars but does not think much of the lorries. When we leave it has done a circle back to the bush where we first saw it.